Stacey and the Freshman Disaster
by pixie diva
Summary: Stacey deals with the consequences of giving in to all new pressures in her first year of high school. Some StaceySam, rated for mature themes.
1. Chapter 1

_I stood in front of my full length mirror, stirrup pants and a glitter encrusted sweatshirt lying discarded on the floor behind me. In a white cotton bra and panties (I may be more sophisticated than the other girls in Stoneybrook, but my mother still insists that I am not old enough for black underwear), I examined my reflection carefully. Had I gained weight? My chest was looking a bit fuller than usual (excellent), but I was also noticing a distinct heaviness around my belly. I bit my lip, and pinched my upper thigh. Nothing extra there. I don't mean to sound conceited, but I am usually pretty slim. It's not my fault though. I have diabetes, and because of this I have to monitor my weight very, very carefully. I also have to monitor my blood sugar levels and give myself injections of insulin every day (I know it sounds gross, but I'm used to it by now)._

_Diabetes was one reason I was worried about any sudden fluctuations in weight. I can't have sugar, so I obviously hadn't been pigging out on candy and junk food recently, and I really have to watch what I do eat, or I could wind up in the hospital. So suddent weight gain would be more than a little abnormal._

_The second reason to worry was...The Formal._

**.l.l.l.l.l.l.l.**

"It's going to be incredibly cool," Claudia Kishi insisted, snapping her strawberry Hubba Bubba as she spoke. "Way chilly. I bet they'll need help on the decorations committee, don't you think?"

I cringed a little at her last statement as I nibbled on my tunafish sandwich, but attempted to soften my words. Claudia is my best friend, after all. I would never want to hurt her feelings. "Um, I think they're just renting a space. Andi Gentille said something about the Egypt Room at the Stoneybrook museum?"

Claud's face fell. I could tell she had been really psyched at the idea of decorating the huge gym at SHS (otherwise known as Stoneybrook High School). "I guess that makes sense. A high school Fall Formal is a little different from the Halloween Hop, right?" she giggled at her last comparison, but I could tell she was still feeling a little bit upset.

Mary Anne Spier noticed right away, too. She is so sensitive to other people's feelings. "I bet they'll need someone to design posters though, Claud," she suggested reassuringly. "You would be great at that."

Claudia grinned and snapped her gum again. "As long as someone else helps me with the spelling!" she cracked. We all laughed. Claudia's terrible spelling is legendary in our group of friends.

"Our group of friends" is more than just me (that's Stacey McGill), Claud and Mary Anne, of course. It also includes Kristy Thomas, Abby Stevenson and Jessi Ramsey, who were also at the lunch table with us (except Jessi, that is. She is two years younger than the rest of us and still attends Stoneybrook Middle School). We were all brought together by this great club, the Baby-Sitters Club (or BSC), but more on that another time.

Anyway, the Fall Formal that Claud has mentioned was important to us, not just because it was our first dance of the school year, but because it was to be our first real high school dance ever. The five of us (that is, me, Claudia, Kristy, Mary Anne and Abby) has just begun our freshman year at SHS, and the novelty of being high school girls hadn't quite worn off yet, even on a girl like me, who was born and bred in New York City.

"I think even I can agree that this dance will be extremely fresh." Kristy proclaimed. "Who knows? I might even wear a dress!"

For Kristy, this is a big deal. She almost never breaks out of her "uniform" of jeans, sneakers and a turtleneck.

"Five bucks says it's a beat up denim dress with baseballs embroidered on the sleeves," joked Abby, who loves to tease.

Kristy shot Abby a Look, but I could tell she was only kidding. "I prefer basketballs this season," she said loftily. "Baseballs as embroidery are so passe, right Stace?"

I giggled. "Who knew our Kristy was a fashion maven?"

"The Fearless Leader is multi talented," Abby stated wisely. "Fearless Leader" is her newest nickname for Kristy. I think it's from an old cartoon or something. "Hey when is this shindig, anyway?" Abby asked. "I don't remember hearing any announcements about it yet."

"Um, November?" I offered weakly.

"_Late _November," Kristy interjected. "It isn't exactly around the corner."

"Isn't that more of a Winter Formal?" Abby mused. "How did you kids even find out about it so fast?"

We all looked at Mary Anne, who held up her SHS day planner. "All school events are listed in the calendar in here. Didn't you all check your planners, too?"

We all shrugged. Claudia began to look especially shifty, and I had a feeling that she had already managed to lose her planner. Not everyone is as impeccably organized as Mary Anne.

"Anyway," Kristy began after a long silence. "Sleepover tonight at my house, right guys? To celebrate our first full week of high school."

My heart fluttered a little as I smiled widely; let Kristy think it was with excitement for a gathering of the girls. "I wouldn't miss it for the world."

Later I would reflect upon this sentiment. It was the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth: I almost did trade the world for that one night.


	2. Chapter 2

_Shopping with Claud again. there have been times where I swear to god I think that's all we do. I'm not complaining; I love to shop. And I make plenty of money baby-sitting to help fuel this fire, too. Claudia is the perfect shopping buddy for me. We both have the passion for fashion, but while she loves wild, outrageous outfits that she can add her own artistic touches to, I prefer my clothes to be a bit more sophiaticated and polished. While I might have my eye on a full length suede jacket, Claud will be going nuts over some funky red cowboy boots. We hardly ever fight over clothes._

_Anyway, that day we were at Steven E, one of the fanciest (and most expensive) stores in the Washington Mall. Mary Anne had joined us. We were searching for the perfect outfits for the Fall Formal._

"_Stacey, you've got to try on this one," Claudia insisted, holding up a slinky red dress. I wrinkled my nose as I examined the soft material of the gown. Red is not usually my colour. On the other hand, Claud's artistic mind often thought of great combinations that even I would never consider. Besides, "Lady in Red" was a title that was uncomfortably fitting of me these days. I slung the dress across one arm and headed for the change rooms._

_Minutes later, I encountered a very big problem. "Claudia? Mary Anne?" I called out in a panicked voice. "Could you guys come in here for a sec?"_

_Almost immediately, Claudia burst into the fitting room, closely followed by Mary Anne, who gently shut the door behind her._

"_Oh, Stacey," Mary Anne breathed, looking a little misty eyed. "You look absolutely gorgeous."_

"_I'm absolutely stuck," I corrected her irritably. I turned, showing the half open back of the dress. "I think the zipper is jammed or something. Help?"_

_Claudia immediately stepped forward to help me with the problem. After a few moments of working to no avail, she gave up. "Stace, I don't think the problem is the zipper," she told me. "I think the dress is too small."_

"_What!" I snapped, "That's impossible! We both checked the size!"_

_Claudia shrugged. "Maybe you've grown." She suggested helplessly._

_I smoothed my hands over my hips. Had they grown wider? I started to hate that dress, a scarlet A in satin and lace._

**.l.l.l.l.l.l.**

"Alright, girls! Pizza toast!" Kristy held her slice of pepperoni pizza in the air, and gigglingly, we all lifted our own, "clinking" them together in a toast. Pizza toasts are silly, but they are one of my favourite traditions.

Kristy's sleepover was well underway, and so far, it was a blast. True to her words, Claudia had made popcorn, as well as s'mores and brownies and a million other kinds of junk food. I had satisfied myself with popcorn while the rest of my friends pigged out. Jessi, who is a dancer and has to watch her figure, joined me in abstaining from gobs of chocolate. Abby, who is allergic to chocolate but loves the stuff, had eaten three s'mores and puked in Kristy's ajoining bathroom. She seemed fine now though, waving her pizza in the air and making terrible puns left and right.

Kristy's room was a disaster area: Sleeping bags littered every available floor space, and her dressing table looked as though a makeup bomb has gone off on it. Gone off and blown up in our faces, that is --we had been trying out the latest trends on eachother for fun. Mary Anne had silver glitter smeared out to her temples, and her short bob was a tousled wreck. It was a look that was very high fashion, and very un-Mary Anne. After Claudia and I had complted the look, Kristy had cracked up and taken a polaroid, insisting that she never wanted to forget the moment. The rest of us were no better: Orange blush and purple lipstick, false eyelashes and aquamarine eyeliners; you name it, we had tried it out that night.

As we lay stretched out on Kristy's bedroom floor giggling at the many polaroids we had taken after Kristy's inspiration with Mary Anne, there was a knock on the door.

"Hey, Kristy," a male voice announced, "Mom wanted me to bring some stuff up to you. Can I bring it in?"

Kristy rolled her eyes. "Whatever it is, just leave it outside, Sam. We'll pick it up when you're gone." She said this last word with a particular pointedness. Sam is her sixteen year old brother, and he loves to tease Kristy. I had a feeling that Kristy did not want him seeing her in bright blue eyeshadow that could elicit countless "Krusty the Clown" insults in the future.

Sam was quiet, as if hesitating, but after a moment we heard him setting down a tray. "Is Stacey in there?" he asked.

Kristy sighed in exasperation, but Claudia muffled a giggle. Under my maroon blush, I could feel my cheeks coloring even further. Very sarcastically, Kristy replied, "No Sam. In fact, Stacey just left. She heard you coming up the stairs and ran screaming back to New York. Now _scram_."

Now Claudia wasn't even trying to muffle her giggles, and Jessi had joined her. Sam, rather than digging up his usual witty retort, walked away. As his footsteps faded, I could practically hear him shaking his head.

As soon as he was gone, Kristy hopped up and retrieved the tray that Sam had brought. On it was a big bottle of diet soda and a bowl of fruit. I guess Kristy's mom was hinting that we should have some actual nutrients with our junk food.

"Sam is such a rat," Kristy grumbled as she poured herself a glass of soda. "I bet you a months worth of babysitting money that he just wanted to get in here to snag funny pictures of us.

"Or taunt us with a rubber spider," Claudia added. "Stacey, remember when he brought that tarantula to a dance last year?"

I laughed as I helped myself to a banana from the tray Kristy's mother had prepared. "How could I forget?"

I felt almost guilty as we traded goofy stories about Sam. Later that night I knew I would be tiptoeing into his room as I had so many sleepovers before, armed with excuses of needing a drink of water or a trip to the bathroom to guard my safe return. I would feel the giddy rush of being alone with a boy, Sam murmuring endearments onto my lips, my earlobe, my neck, Kristy and Claudia and Mary Anne sleeping peacefully mere yards away. Tonight would be no different, and I knew it.

By one in the morning, everyone had started to drift off, and I made my quiet escape. A quick trip to the bathroom scrubbed off layers of unsightly make-up and smoothed out my long blonde hair.

When I slipped into his room I saw him, listening to music through headphones, wide awake, just as I knew he would be. The moment he caught sight of me he slipped off his headphones and pulled me towards him. I guess Sam wasn't wasting any time tonight.

After a long moment, I pulled away to catch my breath. "Hello to you, too."

Sam grinned. "You crawled all the way back from New York City just to see me, huh? I'm flattered."

I giggled and kissed him lightly. Sam was sitting on his bed now, with me perched on his lap. "I only came because I heard there was a party going on. You were the one who came knocking. Literally."

Sam laughed and kissed me again, cutting any conversation short. For a long time we said nothing, but when Sam's hands began to rove and he slipped the thin straps of my nightgown off of my shoulders I hesitantly broke away.

"Sam..." I began.

Sam was nuzzling my neck, and I could tell he was only half listening at this point. "Yeah, Stacey?"

I pushed Sam's hands away and stood up, adjusting the straps of my nightgown. "Maybe we shouldn't...maybe I should go." I was nervous now, nervous enough to stammer a little as I spoke.

Now alert again, Sam caught hold of my hand. "But you just got here."

Without looking at him, I shrugged. I knew that I should probably have pulled my hand away from his, but I couldn't. Something about Sam still made me feel special, and I didn't want to let go of that by letting go of his hand. Taking that as an answer, Sam pulled me back towards him and kissed me, his hands caressing my waist, my breast, my thighs. I let him, but it wasn't long before I had broken away again, and this time I linked my hands behind my back.

"I really do think I should go," I insisted. "I-I need to get to sleep soon."

Sam barely managed to suppress his groan. "What's going on with you tonight, Stace?" he asked bluntly. "I thought that now that we're both in high school, we could...I mean, we could..."

We could what, I wondered. Be together? Have sex? Go to the Fall Formal together?

Maybe he meant all three. Maybe all these events were hinged on eachother. I couldn't have two without agreeing to the third. This thought panicked me; I did want to be with Sam, I wanted to go to the Fall Formal with him. The thought of having a highschool boyfriend this early in my career, especially an older one, thrilled me.

Without asking him to finish his thought, I made up my mind then. I gave myself over to Sam. He seemed surprised; I spent the next ten minutes staring at his ceiling fan. When I sneaked back into Kristy's room in the early hours of the morning, I didn't feel that different. I wanted a shower, but it was too early. As I finally drifted off to sleep myself, I wondered if this is what all of high school would be like.


End file.
